Polymer Group, Inc. announced it will strengthen its presence in China with the construction of a new spunmelt manufacturing plant in Suzhou and the addition of advanced chemical bonding technology at its facility in Nanhai.
The new Suzhou manufacturing plant will make PGI the largest spunmelt producer in China and the country's only vertically integrated producer of medical fabric. Located near Shanghai, the plant will house a new state-of- the-art, multi-beam Reifenhauser spunmelt line targeted primarily at serving the medical and hygiene markets. It will also house a world-class finishing line capable of providing customers with treated medical fabrics produced in a pristine environment that meet the highest quality standards. Construction is expected to begin during the second quarter of 2005, and commercial production is planned for mid-2006.
The new spunmelt line will offer customers ultra-high-performance medical barrier fabric, including PGI's MediSoft(TM) products. It will also enhance the company's ability to offer high quality hygiene fabrics using proprietary processes and advanced treating systems.
PGI will also expand its technology base at its current facility in Nanhai, China with the addition of an advanced chemical bonding line targeted to serve the hygiene and medical markets. This new line will enable PGI China to broaden its product offering to include sublayer products for the hygiene market and other medical and hygiene products previously available only from PGI's U.S. and European operations.
"Our strategic growth plans include expansion in every region of the world in which PGI operates," said PGI's chief executive officer, James L. Schaeffer. "Due to capacity limitations, our existing China operations have not been able to keep up with the growing demand for PGI products. The new location in Suzhou will add capacity right where our customers need it, and the technology expansion at Nanhai will enhance our ability to provide the region with a broader base of products."
Jay Cheng, PGI's general manager of China operations who joined the company in January of 2005 to manage growth in Asia, added: "The Shanghai region continues to grow in its importance to the Asian economy, and our customers are growing their businesses in this area. By locating in the Suzhou Industrial Park, we will have access to one of the highest quality infrastructures in the country."
Polymer Group, Inc., one of the world's leading producers of nonwovens, is a global, technology-driven developer, producer and marketer of engineered materials. With the broadest range of process technologies in the nonwovens industry, PGI is a global supplier to leading consumer and industrial product manufacturers. The company operates 21 manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
http://www.polymergroupinc.com/
Posted 5th April 2005
